Tramore Course Guide

A right-handed, undulating, round track that is about seven and a half furlongs in length. Many of the turns are sharp and it is a track that many horses patently fail to act around. The straight is a little over a furlong in length and is on an incline.

This is definitely a specialist track! It’s very tight and unusual in character, with a stiff uphill finish in the straight. A horse needs to be very balanced to handle it well, which is why the same horses tend to come back there and do well again and again. On softer ground, horses can come from off the pace, but when it’s quick, pace is everything and it’s hard to make up ground. They never race out of starting stalls at Tramore and that can cause problems for flat horses that aren’t used to flag starts.

View from the saddle: Mick Kinane

An undulating, right-handed, round track only about seven furlongs in extent. The turns are sharp and although sections of the course are on the climb it very much favours the handy type of horse. There are five fences to a circuit of the chase course with a long downhill run to the second last which is situated just before the short, uphill home straight. The run-in is around 160 yards.

Probably the trickiest track to ride in the country. It pays to take your time on the downhill section after climbing up the hill the on turn away from the stands. It definitely produces course specialists both in terms of horses and riders. In terms of a jockey, they need to be brave with a brain as well. The fences there have always been soft, but they need to be around a track like this!

View from the saddle: Charlie Swan